Wednesday, November 18, 2009

what's up the pike: cars and people, too

- What's wrong with the scene in this [blurry] photo, taken last Saturday night on Ellsworth Drive in Downtown Silver Spring? That's right: there are cars. Is not closing Ellsworth on weekends a regular thing now? Sounds okay with me. I kind of think dodging cars makes that block a little more exciting, and Richard Layman would probably argue that shopkeepers like it when motorists can pass their stores, even if they can't park out front.

- Tomorrow, the Planning Board reviews a project plan (warning! PDF file.) for a proposed building at 8621 Georgia Avenue (next to Eagle Bank) in Downtown Silver Spring. The thirteen-story tower will have 185,000 square feet of office space, about 6,000 square feet of retail or restaurant space, and a public art installation along Georgia. In addition to providing space for outdoor seating, the developer may also have to contribute money towards renovating the Fenton Gateway Park at Fenton Street and Philadelphia Avenue.

- On Sunday, students and local environmentalists will pick up trash on degraded land next to Northwood High School. The 15-acre wooded site was unmaintained and polluted after plans for a road there connecting Route 29 and University Boulevard were shelved. Northwood, along with the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, Friends of Sligo Creek and Neighbors of Northwest Branch, received a $7,500 grant to restore the land and install a nature interpretive trail and meadow there.

4 comments:

Great news that Fenton Gateway Park will get dedicates funding _ AT LAST. We need to pool the pocket park funds and not let it all go into some vague park slush fund where the community directly effected by the new development never sees the investment.